Invocator are a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 technical thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

 band featuring Esbjerg

Esbjerg

Esbjerg Municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. Its mayor is Johnny Søtrup, from the Venstre political party...

-based guitarist/singer Jacob Hansen, founder of the band. They are considered influential on the European thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

/heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 scene, and known for incorporating elements from death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

, thrash metal, groove metal

Groove metal

Groove metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It was often used to describe Pantera and Exhorder.- Characteristics and origins :Pantera's Cowboys from Hell album from 1990 was described as "groundbreaking" and "blueprint-defining" for the groove metal genre...

 and progressive metal

Progressive metal

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

 into their style.

Demos and Excursion Demise

Invocator's first demo proper Genetic Confusion was released in 1988 (the band had released a live demo in 1987). The band played numerous shows in support of the demo, supporting the Danish thrash metal act Artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, among others. The following demo, Alterations, which sold nearly 2000 copies, was released in 1989. Following up on the demo, the band played successful shows with major acts such as Entombed

Entombed (band)

Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...

, Edge Of Sanity

Edge of Sanity

Edge of Sanity was a Swedish death metal band. Edge of Sanity are regarded alongside Opeth as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death and black metal with progressive rock.- History :...

, Psychotic Waltz

Psychotic Waltz

-Biography:The first incarnation of the band was under the name Aslan, after a character in the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. With money earned from local shows and T-shirt sales, they recorded a self-titled demo tape in 1986...

, Gorefest

Gorefest

Gorefest was a Dutch band from the Zeeland region of the Netherlands which was founded in 1988 as a death metal outfit by De Koeyer, Harthoorn, van Schaik and Hoogendoorn.-History:...

, and Incubus (now Opprobrium

Opprobrium (band)

See also opprobriumOpprobrium is a death metal band from Metairie, Louisiana. Founded in 1986 by brothers Francis and Moyses Howard under the name Incubus, Natives of Rio de Janeiro, the Howards emigrated to New Orleans and formed the band...

).

Having signed with Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

/German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 label Black Mark Productions

Black Mark Productions

Black Mark Productions is an independent record label based in Sweden and an office in Germany that specializes in extreme metal releases, perhaps best known for its close connection to Quorthon, leader of the defining black metal band Bathory until his death in 2004...

, Invocator released their debut album, Excursion Demise which was recorded at Montezuma Studios in 1991, Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 where the likes of Memento Mori and Edge Of Sanity had also recorded albums. The album received a nomination for the Danish Grammy for "best heavy metal album of the year". In support of the album, Invocator played numerous shows with the likes of (Evil Dead, Lääz Rockit

Lääz Rockit

Lääz Rockit are a Power/Thrash band formed in San Francisco, California in 1982. Although one of the lesser-known groups of the Bay Area thrash metal scene, each album in their history has received high critical marks...

, Atheist

Atheist (band)

Atheist is a technical death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984, whose music combines metal riffs with subtle Latin music arrangements and jazz fusion.- History :...

, Suffocation

Suffocation (band)

Suffocation is an American death metal band that was formed in 1989 in Long Island, New York. The band comprises vocalist Frank Mullen, guitarists Terrance Hobbs and Guy Marchais, drummer Mike Smith and bassist Derek Boyer. Suffocation rose to prominence of death metal and created a blueprint for...

, Asphyx

Asphyx

Asphyx is a Dutch death/doom band that was formed in Overijssel in 1987.-Biography:The band was formed in 1987 by Bob Bagchus and Tonny Brookhuis. Eric Daniels was found as a second guitarist and Chuck Colli joined on vocals and bass guitar; this line up released the Enter the Domain demo...

, Immolation

Immolation (band)

-History:The band formed in May 1986 by Andrew Sakowicz and Dave Wilkinson under the name Rigor Mortis . The name was changed to Immolation in April 1988, after the Warriors of Doom demo which was recorded as Rigor Mortis and Demo I which was recorded as Immolation...

, Bolt Thrower, Benediction

Benediction (band)

Benediction is a British death metal band from Birmingham, England. They were formed in February 1989.-Biography:The Birmingham-based death metal band Benediction were formed in February 1989 by Paul Adams , Peter Rew , Darren Brookes , and Mark "Barney" Greenway...

, Massacre, Pungent Stench

Pungent Stench

Pungent Stench was a darkly humorous death metal band from Vienna, Austria, which formed in 1988. Their last known lineup consists of Martin Schirenc , El Gore , and Alex Wank...

, Atrocity

Atrocity (band)

Atrocity is a German Heavy Metal band formed in Ludwigsburg.-History:First started in 1985 as Instigators and playing grindcore, Atrocity arose as a death metal band with their debut EP, Blue Blood, in 1989, followed soon by Hallucinations, a concept album about drug use...

 etc.) and toured with legendary US metal act Dark Angel

Dark Angel (band)

Dark Angel was an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Their over-the-top style earned them the nickname "the L.A...

 throughout Europe in 1992. The tour was followed by Invocator supporting Sepultura

Sepultura

Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte, formed in 1984. The band was a major force in the death metal, thrash metal and ultimately groove metal realms during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their later experiments melding nu metal, hardcore punk and industrial.Sepultura...

 at their Danish "Arise" show in Saga in Copenhagen and then at the Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...

, playing in front of 5,000 people.

Musically, the album and the early demos fall under the genre rubric of death-thrash metal, containing several extremely fast and aggressive parts, including original lead guitarist' Jakob Schulz' fast Slayer-inspired solos. The average song of that era typically consisting of several different parts and numerous tempo changes, Invocator's early style displays some of the emphasis on technicality and progressivity that would characterize their later releases.

Weave the Apocalypse and Dying to Live

Invocator went through both musical and line-up changes in the time between their first and second albums. The original line-up, which included Jacob Hansen, Jakob Schulz, Jesper M. Jensen and Per M. Jensen, was abandoned as Perle Hansen took up the duty as new lead guitarist, and Per Jakobsen took over the bass duties. The band's new style, which was previewed on a promo tape in 1992, retained the complexity of the debut album, but emphasis on speed had been abandoned an even higher focus on technicality and progressivity taking its place. Not only were Perle Hansen's lead guitar more complex and nuanced than the lead guitar on the debut album, Per M. Jensen's drumming had also become very complex and progressive compared to the high speed pounding of Excursion Demise.

The recordings of 2nd album Weave The Apocalypse began in 1993 with engineer/producer Eric Greif

Eric Greif

Eric Greif is a lawyer and entertainment personality known first for a management career within the heavy metal musical genre in the 1980s and later within the legal profession...

, (uncredited) Death co-producer (Spiritual Healing

Spiritual Healing (album)

Spiritual Healing is the third album by death metal band Death, released in February 1990. This album is currently out of print but will be reissued by Relapse Records in 2011....

) and manager, at Elsound Studio in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. The release was well received and garnered positive reviews. Weave the Apocalypse is remembered by fans and critics alike as perhaps the strongest Invocator record in terms of songs, musicianship and production.

The band toured with Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...

 on their "Icon" Denmark tour, and Invocator recorded two cover songs for a CD, entitled Early Years, featuring their old demo tapes in a remastered version - namely, "The Promise Of Agony" by Dark Angel and "The Eternal War" by Artillery. Early Years marked a label change from Black Mark to Progress/Die Hard Music.

Dying To Live

Dying to Live

Dying to Live is zombie novel written by Kim Paffenroth and published in 2006. Paffenroth credits his main influence to be George A. Romero the director of many popular main stream zombie movies such as Dawn of the Dead.-Plot summary:...

, the band's third album, which musically combines groove metal with the technicality of the predecessor, was recorded and released in 1995, with aanother line-up change preceding it, as bassist Per Jakobsen being replaced by Carsten Mikkelsen. During a Denmark tour to support the album, the chemistry within the band suffered from different musical directions desired by its different members and the band decided to split the same year. While Per M. Jensen subsequently performed and recorded with Artillery, Konkhra

Konkhra

- History :Konkhra was first formed under the name of "Vicious Circle" in Køge—a small town south of Copenhagen—in November 1989. Before changing their name, they issued the self-titled demo Vicious Circle ; renaming themselves "Konkhra" they followed up with Malgrowth . Konkhra then,...

, and Geronimo

Geronimo

Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...

 and would ultimately join The Haunted

The Haunted

The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996.The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen...

, Jacob Hansen pursued a successful career as a producer, working with death metallers Pestilence

Pestilence

Pestilence may refer to:*Pestilence, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse symbolizing plague in some interpretations of the book of Revelation*Pestilence , a Dutch death metal group...

, neo-rockers The Storm, hardrockers Pretty Maids

Pretty Maids

Pretty Maids are a Danish heavy metal band from Horsens, Denmark. Formed in 1981 by Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer. Their sound and music can be described as classic guitar-laden heavy rock with a strong emphasis on melodic elements like vocals and keyboards....

, Volbeat, and progressive metallers Cryoshell and Anubis Gate

Anubis Gate

Anubis Gate is a progressive metal band from Denmark. Despite having formed Anubis Gate only in 2003, the members regularly worked together since 1984. They have released five studio albums...

 among others; Hansen eventually joined the latter as their lead vocalist (Anubis Gate also features former Invocator bassist Jesper Jensen, who had also had a stint with Geronimo) and also took up guitar duties in progressive metal band Beyond Twilight

Beyond Twilight

Beyond Twilight is a progressive metal band from Denmark with symphonic elements to their sound such as keyboards and harmonic vocals. The vocals are high-pitched as is typical for power metal bands, another possible classification of their style. The band was originally formed by Finn Zierler in...

.

Through the Flesh to the Soul and the 2010 Headbangers Ball Tour

In the early 2000s, Jacob Hansen started to write new songs together with guitarist Flemming C. Lund, known for his work with Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves may refer to:* Autumn leaf color, a phenomenon affecting deciduous plants* Autumn Leaves , a 1956 film directed by Robert Aldrich* Autumn Leaves , an 1856 painting by John Everett Millais...

 and The Arcane Order, and a temporary drummer was found in Brian Rasmussen from Behind The Curtain

Behind the Curtain

Behind The Curtain is the second book in the Echo Falls mystery series by best selling crime novelist Peter Abrahams.- Description :Ingrid lives in a small community called Echo Falls. She's in the school soccer team and is in the drama club. Everything is normal until one day she sees’s what her...

 and Mnemic

Mnemic

Mnemic is a Danish metal band, formed in Aalborg, Denmark in 1998. Their music has been described as a fusion between metalcore, melodic death metal, industrial metal and progressive metal, with additional elements of thrash metal and groove metal, to form a style the band themselves have...

, and in 2002 a demo was released.

Through the Flesh to the Soul was released in 2003 with Hasen on vocals and guitars, Lund on guitars, Mikkelsen, who had rejoined the band, on bass, and Jakob Gundel, also known for his work with Danish melodic death metal act Withering Surface and American progressive metal act Lord Bane, on drums. Through the Flesh to the Soul is more melodic and modern in sound than the preceding albums and also more straightforward with more fast parts. The music is still technical and somewhat complex with some polyrhythm

Polyrhythm

Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...

ic sections.

After another hiatus, the band went on tour in Denmark with Raunchy and The Burning

The Burning

The Burning is a 1981 slasher film directed by Tony Maylam, with music by Rick Wakeman. It tells the story of a cruel, alcoholic, sadistic caretaker at a summer camp who falls victim to a prank that went out of control and leaves him horribly burned and disfigured...

 in 2010 in the Danish leg of the Headbangers Ball Tour with Perle Hansen having rejoined the band. Most of their set consisted of tracks from Weave the Apocalypse and Dying to Live with the title track of Through the Flesh to the Soul" and the title track of Excursion Demise being the only tracks from the two other albums. Invocator were joined onstage by guests Flemming G. Lund, who is now in Raunchy, and Jacob Schulz, who had played in now defunct death metal act Maceration along with Jacob Hansen and Dan Swanö

Dan Swanö

Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...

, which performed under the pseudonym of Day Disyraah, after Schulz had left Invocator.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Label
1991	Excursion Demise	Black Mark
1994	Weave the Apocalypse	Black Mark
1994	Early Years	Progress/Die Hard Music
1995	Dying to Live Dying to Live Dying to Live is zombie novel written by Kim Paffenroth and published in 2006. Paffenroth credits his main influence to be George A. Romero the director of many popular main stream zombie movies such as Dawn of the Dead.-Plot summary:...	Progress/Die Hard Music
2003	Through the Flesh to the Soul	Scarlet

Demos Invocator at Myspace

Official website

Jacob Hansen's homepage